MEDITATION FOR SUNDAY 03/01/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

 

 

MEDITATION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT

TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD ON MT. THABOR

“And after six days, Jesus taketh unto Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And He was transfigured before them. And His Face shone as the sun; and His garments became white as snow. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with Him. And Peter answering said to Jesus: ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias’” (Matt. 17, 1-5).

First Prelude: Behold Jesus on Mount Thabor, in the splendor of His glory, attended by Moses and Elias.

Second Prelude: O my beloved Saviour, grant that the contemplation of Thy exalted and mysterious Transfiguration may strengthen my faith, increase my hope and inflame anew my love for Thee.

First Point

CONSIDER THE PERSONS

Picture our Divine Saviour in His glory on Mt. Thabor; His countenance, radiant as the sun; His garments, white as snow. With what joy and admiration this sight should fill us! Let us fall on our knees to adore Him, the King of Eternal Glory, the Sun of Justice, the Splendor of Everlasting Light. Oh, the abysmal love of His Divine Heart that urged Him to renounce this transcendent glory during His earthly career, in order to embrace for our sake humiliation, suffering and death. Let us try to realize what His love has done for us and to make some return for His divine unselfishness. Perhaps we envy the Apostles, so fortunate as to behold the Saviour in His glory. And yet, we, too, shall see the Saviour in heavenly splendor, if we are faithful to His love. His glory shall be ours, indeed; but our virtue must be the purchase price. The memory of the Transfiguration was to be, for the Apostles, a light in the darkness of Gethsemane and a solace in the desolation of Calvary.

Let us, next, contemplate Moses and Elias, who give testimony of Jesus. They, also, appear in glory, flooded with the divine effulgence. From this we may draw the lesson that we shall share in the Saviour’s glory the more, the closer we come to Him by the practice of virtue. Moreover, Moses and Elias talk with Christ about His approaching passion and death at Jerusalem. Even in the midst of His Transfiguration, Jesus is occupied with the mystery of mercy, the redemption, and speaks of it to His friends.

Alas, why do we, the objects of this absorbing love and the partakers of all its glorious fruits, think so rarely of it and speak of it so seldom! In accordance with the wish of Holy Mother Church, let this glance at Thabor encourage us to follow with sympathy our Divine Bridegroom treading the bitter path to Calvary, to the consummation of the Sacrifice on the Cross. Let us seek through this meditation to fortify ourselves for the daily sacrifices that the faithful imitation of Christ demands.

Second Point

CONSIDER THE WORDS

How great, indeed, must have been the wonder, the fear, the joy of the Apostles, who saw with corporeal eyes the Divinity glorifying the sacred Humanity, and beheld the prophets of old, Moses and Elias. Peter at once gave vent to his feelings, saying: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” Utterly forgetting that earth is not a place of enjoyment, the Apostle would build tabernacles on Thabor and always remain there. Many souls resemble him in this that while striving for perfection, they would continually enjoy spiritual delights. If things go on according to their taste, then they say: “Lord, it is good to be here,” this is true life. Does not self-love frequently conceal itself beneath the garb of piety? Like Peter, we know not what we say, when we seek sensible gratifications, while refusing to carry the cross of Christ. Should we not rather strive for the strong love that seeks not the consolations of God, but the God of consolations? Scarcely had Peter voiced his desire, than a bright cloud overshadowed Christ and a voice from heaven was heard saying: “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.” With these words, the heavenly Father manifested His will that we should obey Jesus, believe His teaching, observe His command, and follow His holy example.

What a source of consolation to know that we are disciples of so great a Teacher and Master, Whose mission was thus solemnly announced! Let us, then, heed Him willingly when He tells us that we must deny ourselves, conquer our passions, use violence and crucify ourselves. Let us, further, heed Him when He teaches us yet more effectively still, by His example, to be meek and humble of heart. Finally, let us heed Him when in most intimate communion He admonishes us to lead better lives. Blessed are they that hear Jesus and generously follow His admonitions!

Am I intent upon making my heart receptive for His holy inspirations by means of silence and recollection?

Affections: O my glorified, transfigured Saviour! In profoundest humility prostrate before Thy Divine Majesty, I adore Thee with the disciples who were so fortunate as to behold the splendor of Thy glory. Thou didst will to show us the splendor of Thy Transfiguration in this earthly exile to animate our courage, to enliven our hope, because the glory of the Head shall one day pass over upon the faithful members. Thou dost conceal Thy glory in the Sacrament of Thy Love, to be our food and to implant the germ of immortality into our corruptible bodies. In Thy kingdom Thou wilt reveal Thyself to us entirely to be our salvation and bliss. Oh, give us all the grace to love Thee with our whole heart, to desire and listen to Thee alone, to remain united with Thee in the most faithful imitation of Thy example.

Resolution: I will frequently ponder the glory of my transfigured Saviour that it may incite me to love and imitation of Him.

Spiritual Bouquet: “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ. . .

MEDITATION FOR SATURDAY 02/28/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

 

MEDITATION FOR SATURDAY

JESUS SURRENDERS HIMSELF INTO THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES AND IS DESERTED BY HIS APOSTLES

“In that same hour Jesus said to the multitudes: ‘You are come out as it were to a robber with swords and clubs to apprehend Me. I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you laid not hands on Me.’ Now all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then the disciples all leaving Him, fled” (Matt. 28, 55).

First Prelude: Behold Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, lovingly addressing His bitter enemies, while the disciples full of fear, take to flight.

Second Prelude: O my Jesus, grant me grace to realize Thy immense love and my utter weakness and inconstancy, that I may cling more closely to Thee.

First Point

THE CONDUCT OF JESUS TOWARD HIS ENEMIES

To repair in some measure the rash act of Peter in cutting off the ear of Malchus, Jesus, in the most touching manner, healed it. This was our Blessed Lord’s final attempt to rouse the latent faith of His enemies! What goodness and love! At the same time He rebuked them severely! “When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands against Me; but this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Luke 22, 53). The hour of His capture, Jesus terms their hour, in which they become instruments of Satan, to whom they surrendered themselves by neglecting to profit by the visitations of the Lord.

What lamentable power does Satan exercise over the hearts of so many who no longer heed divine inspirations, or the counsels and admonitions of their superiors! They are forced into his servitude, become ever more blinded and finally sink into utter darkness. Oh, that our infidelities may not extinguish the light of the Holy Ghost in our hearts and plunge us into total spiritual blindness! Such a condition should not only frustrate the holiest designs of our Blessed Lord in our regard, but redound to the ruin of countless souls. Oh, the incomprehensible love of our dear Lord for His bitter enemies! His compassion will not relent, nor tire of continually lavishing new favors upon His enemies, that at least in the near future, after His resurrection, they may open their hearts to the light of faith.

Have we made proper use of the many opportunities for doing good to others, by a well-meant reproof, a heartfelt word of advice or admonition? What a source of consolation will it be in the hour of death to be able to say: I have labored for the salvation of souls inasmuch as my weakness permitted it, and God has blessed my feeble efforts. May not one of us ever be deserving of the reproach of having scandalized others, perhaps, our fellow-religious, the sick, or the souls entrusted to our care, by lack of humility and forbearance.

Do I justly esteem my exalted vocation and the power it gives me for good? Am I a fit instrument of God’s mercy and charity, or have I suffered the Evil One to use me at will for the accomplishing of his sinister plans?

Second Point

THE FLIGHT OF THE APOSTLES

Though our Blessed Lord had repeatedly warned His Apostles and foretold their future cowardice, they would not be convinced of their utter weakness and instability, nor of the possibility of their base desertion of so beloved a Master. Forgetting that without God’s grace they could not remain faithful, they lacked humility, the indispensable weapon of the soldier of Christ. “He that thinketh Himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall” (St. Paul, I Cor. 10, 12). They having so shamefully deserted their Lord and Master, must not all foolish self-deception and vain self-confidence have deserted them? Must they not have learned from their own weakness to compassionate the weaknesses of others? Thus God knows how to draw good from evil and to incite His elect by contrition and by humility to a more fervent practice of virtue.

Jesus desired to endure such bitter torments for the further reason that He might prove to us the extent of His love and afford us comfort and consolation in kindred sorrows. Full of grief at the thought of His pending passion, He had said to them sorrowfully, “All you shall be scandalized in Me this night. For it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be dispersed’” (Matt. 26, 31). Were not here verified the words of the prophet: “In thy sight are all they that afflicted me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none; and for one that would comfort me, and I found none”? (Ps. 68, 21). Jesus wished to atone for the faithlessness of men, and at the same time admonish us not to put our trust in creatures.

How often have we fled from our Blessed Saviour, even if there was no question of suffering death with Him, but merely of making a little sacrifice for love of Him!

Affections: O my beloved Saviour, I compassionate Thee in Thy intense sorrow, for the infidelity of Thy disciples, but more do I grieve over my many sins and weaknesses. I know full well that I have deserved to be forsaken by Thee. I pray Thee by the infinite mercy shown Thy bitter enemies, when Thou didst offer them the grace of conversion by Thy loving words, keep me in Thy grace, in Thy love and friendship. Be Thou, O Jesus, my strength, my support, my light, my hope and my model, that I may courageously conquer all obstacles and all things may redound to my salvation.

Resolution: The thought of my former transgressions shall be an incentive to greater zeal.

Spiritual Bouquet: I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none.

Prayer: Soul of Christ. . .

Meditation for Friday 02/27/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

 

Meditation for Friday

The Zeal of Peter in Defending Jesus

“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of the servant was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter: ‘Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?’” (John 18, 10–11.)

First Prelude: Remain in the Garden of Olives near our Divine Saviour, and see Peter drawing his sword to strike the servant of the high priest.

Second Prelude: Give me grace to understand, O my beloved Saviour, that only through humility and meekness shall I be able to glorify Thee and achieve the victory over my enemies.

First Point

The Impetuosity and Indiscreet Zeal of the Apostles

Having witnessed how Jesus with one word threw the soldiers to the ground, the Apostles took courage and addressed Jesus, saying to Him: “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” (Luke 22, 49.) Simon Peter without waiting for an answer, drew his sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high-priest. He suffered himself to be carried away by the impetuosity of native zeal, without thought of the prophecy of Jesus, that He must go to Jerusalem to die on the cross. Had Peter consulted his faith, of which on a former occasion he had given such a splendid testimony, he would readily have recognized that “Christ the Son of the living God” needed no earthly defense. How often has not our zeal been indiscreet and unjust! Let us learn from the example of Jesus to employ only the weapons of patience, of meekness and silence against our adversary. They have ever been the favorite weapons of Holy Church by means of which she will achieve the victory over the gates of hell until the end of time. They constitute her honor and renown, and are the distinguishing trait of her disciples.

How often in the course of the day can we prove ourselves true children of Holy Church and in union with her achieve the most glorious victories! How often can we check our tongue, which St. James calls a “world of iniquity” (James v, 6), how often crush our inordinate desires, smother our sensitiveness, requite a slight insult with a service of charity! This is truly fulfilling the wish of the Saviour, to “put the sword into the scabbard” and to gain the victory by vanquishing self and subjugating perverse nature.

Second Point

“Should I not drink the chalice that the Father hath given Me?”

With these words Jesus reprimanded Peter for his indiscreet zeal, and reminded him that the Will of the heavenly Father must be accomplished. He was, as He Himself assured us, “come from heaven to do the will of Him Who had sent Him.” Thus Jesus teaches us by word and example, especially in His holy passion, that perfect love consists in the complete abandonment of our will to God. Such love requires constant self-denial, and it is the chalice that we, too, must drink. The trials and difficulties of our holy calling, the privations, the poverty, the renunciations, which obedience imposes upon us, the incessant crucifying of the old man, comprise sacrifices repugnant to nature. In all these difficulties, we will say with Jesus: “Should I not drink the chalice that the Father hath sent me?” Looking on the chalice that Jesus emptied to the very dregs, for love of us, we shall find that He Himself drank the most bitter portion and left for us only a very small measure. If we accept it lovingly, it will afford us that sweet peace that far surpasses all consolations of the world. Let us thank our Divine Saviour for having so generously accepted the chalice of suffering and thereby merited for us the grace to be preserved from the bitterness of the cup of sin. In all reverses and tribulations we will say: “I will take the chalice of salvation and I will call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 115, 4).

Have we accepted sufferings magnanimously, or have we aggravated our little sacrifices by sensitiveness and complaints?

Affections: O most loving Father, behold, I offer myself willingly to accept every chalice that Thy love shall offer me, no matter how bitter the draught. Thy infinite Wisdom and loving Providence have prepared this cup which is so beneficial to my soul, and only in such portions as my weakness can bear. Give me the grace, O my Saviour, to subjugate perverse nature, to subdue my impatience and precipitation by meekness and forbearance. Annihilate self-love in my heart and give me the great grace of Thy holy love. Loving Thee, O Jesus, with my whole heart, I will also love my neighbor. I will rejoice in being able to prove my gratitude to Thee by total abandonment to Thy divine pleasure and self-immolation in Thy service.

Resolution: For the love of Jesus, and in union with Him I will bear willingly whatever is disagreeable or painful to nature.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Should I not drink the chalice that My Father hath sent Me?”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

Meditation for Thursday 02/26/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

 

Meditation for Thursday

JESUS IS CAPTURED

“Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon Him, went forth and said to them: ‘Whom seek ye?’” (John 18, 4).

First Prelude: Imagine you see the soldiers falling prostrate at the words of Jesus: “I am He!”

Second Prelude: O Jesus, let me understand the power and love of Thy Sacred Heart, that I may place all my confidence in Thee and for love of Thee be solicitous for the good of others.

First Point

THE POWER OF JESUS OVER HIS ENEMIES

Having addressed words of incomprehensible love to His faithless disciple, our Lord asked the servants: “Whom seek ye?” They answered: “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I am He,” the Saviour replied. There was needed but this one word from the lips of the Eternal Wisdom, exhausted unto death, to hurl the entire armed band to the ground. Oh, adore the powerful, almighty God Whom no one can resist, to Whom all power is given and before Whom every knee bends in heaven, on earth and under the earth. We must, however, be on our guard so as never to rise up against Him or even to resist Him in the smallest things. Let us promise Him unswerving fidelity, in those things, especially, that require self-denial. Let us beg Jesus to cast all His enemies to the ground. May He cast all sinners to the ground and fill them with a wholesome fear, that they may be converted. May He prostrate all His enemies in our hearts: pride, sensuality, self-will, sloth, and tepidity. If He is with us, who can then be against us? He, Who with one word can annihilate His enemies, will always be our help and our support. Should we not, therefore, conceive ever greater confidence in Him and in every danger take refuge in His Sacred Heart? If we endeavor lovingly to seek Him by fervent prayer, incessant mortification, complete renunciation, humble, contrite reparation, we shall find pardon, grace, mercy, love, peace, the salvation of our souls and eternal happiness.

Am I attentive to the voice of Jesus at prayer? Am I mindful that I am conversing with the Most High? When He admonishes me in the course of the day do I realize that He is asking this or that sacrifice of me, connected with the discharge of my duties?

Second Point

JESUS PROVIDES LOVINGLY FOR HIS DISCIPLES

Like a loving father, Jesus is concerned for the security of His disciples. “If therefore you seek Me,” Jesus said to the troop of soldiers, “let these go their way.” Oh, the admirable love of Jesus! These words implied a command forbidding His enemies to harm His Apostles and at the same time depriving them of the power to do so because their hour had not yet come. Himself, Jesus delivered into the hands of these monsters, to be brutally subjected to all manner of abuses and ridicule, to the scourging and the crowning with thorns, even to the death of the cross — but His own He protects with a powerful hand and suffers not a hair of their head to be touched. What a comforting assurance! Nothing can happen to us without the Will of God — no harm can befall us, nor sufferings smite us, before the hour appointed by the Divine Wisdom. Should we not, therefore, throw off all anxiety about the future and surrender ourselves with filial trust to God’s ever-wise and loving Providence?

In daily intercourse with others, especially those entrusted to our care, we must strive to imitate the touching love and solicitude of our Divine Lord by choosing for ourselves the most difficult task. Doing this we shall be able to support others in their trials, to bear the burden and discomfort ourselves, in order to lighten the labors of others. Our Blessed Lord has entrusted to us the children, the poor, and the sick, that we might sacrifice ourselves for them, thus loving them as He has loved us. How little should we co-operate with our holy vocation, were we to live on in selfishness, in ease and comfort, and allow others to suffer! How could Jesus, then, recognize us as His spouses?

Do I not occasionally seek to evade difficulties in order to impose them on my neighbor? Am I faithful in the discharge of my duties towards those entrusted to my care, even at the price of a great personal sacrifice?

Affections: O my beloved Jesus, let me hear the sweet words: “I am thy Saviour and thy God, thy strength and thy hope, thy joy and thy life.” I will confide in Thee alone, and in all difficulties have recourse to Thee. O most amiable Jesus, how immeasurable is Thy love toward all whom the Father has given Thee, how tender Thy solicitude for them even in Thy passion! Thou dost permit Thy enemies to rave against Thee, but not to touch Thy friends. Thou endurest all manner of abuses to spare Thy elect. Oh, that I would manifest my gratitude for such love by bestowing a tender solicitude upon my fellow religious and the children committed to my care. I will cheerfully embrace hardships and labors to lighten their burdens.

Resolution: I will lovingly bear with the defects and weaknesses of others, will encourage and support them in their difficulties and sufferings.

Spiritual Bouquet: “If, therefore, you seek Me, let these go their way.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .

Meditation for Wednesday 02/25/26

Prayer Before and Prayer After

 

Meditation for Wednesday

Jesus is Betrayed by Judas with a Kiss

“As He yet spoke, behold Judas, one of the twelve, came and with him a great multitude with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the ancients of the people. And he that betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: ‘Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He, hold Him fast.’ And forthwith coming to Jesus, he said: ‘Hail Rabbi.’ And he kissed Him. And Jesus said to him: ‘Friend, whereto art thou come?’ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus, and held Him.” (Matt. 26, 47-50).

First Prelude: In spirit enter the Garden; behold Jesus advancing to meet His traitor, and hear His loving words.

Second Prelude: Ask the grace to be preserved from grave faults by a conscientious fidelity in little things.

First Point

The Meekness and Compassion of Jesus with the Traitor

The treason of Judas must have constituted one of the keenest sufferings of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! When our Divine Saviour called Judas to the apostolate, He foresaw his future betrayal, and still He took him into His confidence, instructed and trained him for the preaching of the gospel. Jesus had manifested towards Judas a special confidence by giving the alms into his custody. He had often and impressively warned and admonished him lovingly. At the Last Supper, when in his blindness Judas asked our Divine Saviour with the rest of the Apostles, whether it was he that would betray Him, Jesus told him plainly that it was he. Judas could no longer doubt that Jesus knew of his wicked design and that He desired to stay the horrible crime and save him. When a few hours later the traitor, approaching the Saviour in company with the ruffians, said “Hail Rabboni!” and kissed Him, the Lord did not disdain to receive the treacherous kiss, but with indescribable mildness and sweetness said: “Friend, whereto art thou come?”

What an insult, what a horrible torture for the Saviour’s heart was this kiss of the traitor! A disciple abuses the token of friendship to deliver His Master into the hands of His enemies! With the Psalmist the Lord laments: “For if my enemy had reviled Me!” (Psalm 54, 13). But the disciple delivers his Master, the friend faithlessly betrays his Friend, Who took him into His confidence, man delivers up his God. Once more the Saviour invites Judas to His friendship by calling him “Friend,” but how must the abuse of graces have hardened the traitor’s heart!

The love of Jesus for His faithless disciple is a figure of His love for the greatest sinners. He calls them to repentance and loves them, despite their sinfulness and malice, and if His grace finds a receptive heart, it transforms the greatest sinner into a holy penitent. We, too, will place unbounded confidence in the tender mercies of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to whom but one thing is impossible, namely, not to compassionate the misery of those who are of good will. Does grace always find my heart receptive? What hindrances must I remove?

Second Point

What does the appalling example of Judas teach us?

It seems incomprehensible that Judas could develop into so vile a monster of ingratitude and wickedness, as to perpetrate so black a deed, and accomplish his plan with such detestable hypocrisy—“Whomsoever I shall kiss, that is He; hold Him fast!” Thus, in his delusion, he had cautioned the soldiers. How deep a fall for an Apostle, for one called to be a pillar of the Church! Must this example not inspire us with a wholesome fear, and induce us to be on our guard? Judas began by being unfaithful in trifles, for the way that led him to his terrible fall is the ordinary way to perdition, namely, lack of fidelity in small matters.

He was, as the evangelist tells us, a thief. His predominant passion, therefore, was love of money and greed of temporal gain. Had Judas entered into himself after his first fall, had he acknowledged his guilt to his Master, he should certainly not have fallen so low. But Judas more and more abused the grace offered him. He heard the sublime discourses of Jesus; heard His awful woe upon those attached to the things of this world; heard Him promise His Apostles, that having left all things they should one day sit on twelve thrones to judge the tribes of Israel. But all this made no impression on him and effected no amendment of his life. The evil spirit gained more and more power over him, and persuaded him finally to betray his Master.

Oh, how many have fallen in consequence of a single unrestrained evil inclination! How many have forfeited the friendship and love of Jesus for a paltry price, thus wounding the Heart of the Saviour the more keenly, the more graces He had lavished upon them! Oh, that we would guard most carefully against the slightest fault! That we would treasure above all else the love of Jesus, and sacrifice all, relinquish all, to obtain it, and to preserve this priceless treasure.

Affections: O Heart of my Jesus, Abyss of Mercy and Love! I, too, am among those ungrateful souls that have requited Thy love with insults. My heart is filled with confusion and sorrow, when I consider Thy infinite goodness to me, despite my ingratitude. O God of Love, tear me away from earthly inclinations, which would sever me from my highest Good. Reign Thou, alone, in my heart and possess it wholly. Give me Thy grace and Thy love, O my God, for with it I am rich enough and desire no more.

Resolution: In every trial and affliction, I will seek encouragement in the thought that at such a price I can purchase the love of Jesus.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Friend, whereto art thou come?”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

Meditation for Tuesday 02/24/26

 

Meditation for Tuesday

JESUS ADMONISHES HIS DISCIPLES AND GOES TO MEET HIS ENEMIES

“And He cometh to His Disciples and findeth them asleep. And He saith to Peter: ‘What? Could you not watch one hour with me? Watch ye and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again the second time He went and prayed saying: ‘My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, Thy will be done.’ And He cometh to His disciples and saith to them: ‘Sleep ye now and take your rest; behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of sinners’” (Matt. 26, 40-45).

First Prelude: Imagine Jesus full of sorrow and grief coming to His Apostles, whom He finds asleep; and hear Him mildly reproaching them.

Second Prelude: Grant me the grace, O Jesus, in fervent meditation to prepare myself for the daily struggles and difficulties that I may meet them courageously.

First Point

The Charitable Indulgence of Jesus Toward His Disciples

In the dark hours of Gethsemane Jesus did not forget His Apostles. He had taken them along, that having witnessed His transfiguration on Mt. Thabor, they should also be witnesses of His passion. Sad to say, they had not followed His admonitions to watch with Him and pray, for when Jesus returned He found them sleeping.

Then He turned to Peter and said: “Could you not watch one hour with Me?” How embarrassing for the Apostles that, despite the admonition and exhortation of their Master, they had yielded to sleep! What a source of confusion was the reproach for Peter, reminding him of his weakness! He had but shortly, with absolute self-confidence, affirmed his fidelity and constancy! Do we not frequently deserve the reproach “Not one hour could you watch with Me”? We yield to distractions, to sloth, to drowsiness, especially during the precious moments of meditation when we ought to forestall the occasions and temptations of the day and arm ourselves against them by begging God for His special help.

Little wonder, then, that we so easily break our resolutions and grow disheartened! Alas, how often do we resemble the disciples by our carelessness and lack of solicitude! Surely our love for Jesus cannot but be slight and cold. Though we have received special graces and are so close to Him, we refuse to watch and pray, in intimate union with Him. Twice He finds His disciples sleeping, and still He remains calm, compassionate, their weakness and utters no rebuke.

Oh, how good and amiable is the loving Heart of our Saviour! We may always turn to Him with confidence, even though we have been unfaithful to grace. He knows our misery and knows, too, that the spirit is willing but the flesh weak. Let us often bestow upon our neighbor the marks of affection that we receive from Jesus. In associating with our fellow religious and the children entrusted to our keeping we will imitate the meekness of Jesus, and if their repeated faults and weaknesses become irksome, we will in all humility recall our own fickleness and inconstancy.

Second Point

The Determination with Which Jesus Embraces Suffering

Having strengthened Himself by persevering prayer, Jesus said to His apostles, “Arise, let us go.” The fear, the anxiety, which His Humanity willed to suffer for us gave place to a magnanimous determination. How differently do we act! Like the disciples, we, too, display heroic courage and make great promises before the danger, but no sooner do we encounter it, than our courage deserts us and we prove weak and cowardly. This is due, no doubt, to the fact that we are not fervent and persevering in prayer, and therefore fail to experience its salutary effects. St. Gregory says, “Man must acquire by prayer what God from all eternity has decreed to give him.” If we have been sluggish and indolent in prayer, dare we feign surprise at our lack of courage?

The saints, who after the example of their Divine Master and Model, prayed so fervently, so perseveringly, could truly say in the hour of trials and sufferings, of martyrdom and death, “The hour has come, let us go.” Yes, they longed to die with their Divine Master. Like unto Him, they had the most ardent desire to suffer and die. “I desired to be dissolved,” said the Apostle of the Gentiles. “To suffer or to die,” St. Teresa cried out. St. Magdalen of Pazzi desired to live longer that she might suffer the longer. It is true that God has not called everyone to such an exalted degree of sanctity, but all, without exception, must strive zealously to bear with humility, confidence, filial trust and resignation the trials and hardships that God in His goodness imposes upon them. Let us “Look on Jesus, Who having joy set before Him endured the cross,” and in anticipation of the pending difficulties and trials let us say, “The hour has come; arise, let us go!”

Affections: O sorrowful Heart of Jesus! Nowhere dost Thou find consolation! Even Thy best friends are without sympathy and cannot watch one hour with Thee! Alas, how often have I been guilty of a like indifference and slothfulness! How often have I felt that the spirit is willing, but the flesh weak and inconstant! Oh my Jesus, rouse me from the slumber of insensibility by Thy enlivening grace: enkindle the fire of love in my heart and give me courage and a holy determination to follow Thee on the way of suffering and humiliations, that I may be among those faithful souls who have persevered with Thee to the end in sufferings and afflictions.

Resolution: In fervent meditation I will seek the courage and determination necessary to bear whatever is disagreeable in the faithful discharge of my duties.

Spiritual Bouquet: “The hour has come; arise, let us go.”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

MEDITATION FOR MONDAY 02/23/26

MEDITATION FOR MONDAY

JESUS, IN HIS AGONY, IS STRENGTHENED BY AN ANGEL

“And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed the longer. And His sweat became as drops of Blood, trickling down upon the ground” (Luke 22, 43-44).

First Prelude: In spirit enter the Garden of Gethsemane and remain near our Saviour, sorrowful even unto death, accepting consolation and strength from an angel.

Second Prelude: O my Saviour, give me a great love of Thee, that it may strengthen me to endure every combat and to make every sacrifice for Thee.

First Point

JESUS SWEATS BLOOD

At no moment of man’s life does his weakness manifest itself so visibly as in the hour of death, when he is forsaken by all and when naught but confidence in the merits of the Saviour can afford him consolation. To merit an abundance of graces for that hour, our beloved Saviour designed to endure such a bitter agony. His death should be the model and support of ours. Let us adore our Blessed Saviour Who, as St. Bernard expresses it, shed bloody tears with His whole Body. Let us thank Him for submitting to such unheard of torments to merit for us the grace of a happy death, and consolation and strength in our last agony. Let us promise to remain faithful to Him in the future, daily to resume the struggle with the evil spirit and our passions, and with the assistance of His grace, to achieve a glorious victory. Looking upon our Divine Exemplar, should we not consider all that we suffer for love of Him light and insignificant? St. Paul said: “We have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin” (Heb. 12, 4). The more we have to struggle during life, the more accomplished and valiant shall we be found in our last combat, to resist the assaults of the enemy.

We will frequently kneel in spirit beside our Saviour, sweating blood, and declare ourselves ready for every struggle. We will not only accept death at His hands with all its circumstances but also all the hours of Gethsemane, all the anxieties and sufferings, whereby the heavenly Bridegroom would chasten the love of His spouses. Let us unite our agony and the cold sweat of death with the precious drops of Blood that ooze from every pore of His Sacred Body, and in union with Him, resign ourselves to the Will of our heavenly Father.

Second Point

JESUS IS STRENGTHENED BY AN ANGEL

Must it not fill us with admiration and astonishment to see a God, Who supports the world on His hands and preserves all things, accept consolation and strength from His creature! What a profound abasement for the Saviour of the world! As in all the mysteries of the passion, so also here, He would again teach us that man, who abandoned God through pride, can return to Him only through humility. In His infinite love and condescension, Jesus willed to assume all the weakness of human nature, and as He subjected Himself to the profoundest grief, through love, He would also receive encouragement and comfort for our sake. What consolation in this thought! If He, our Mediator and Head, accepted succor and encouragement from an angel, we, His members, have the right to expect equal succor in our needs and sufferings. God wills that angels should be the ministers of His goodness and mercy, and He has given them charge over us. When Jesus accepted succor from an angel, it was not that His sufferings might be diminished, but to enable Him to suffer more and greater torments, since through love for His heavenly Father and for us, His holy soul thirsted for an excess of suffering. Likewise, God occasionally grants us consolation and strength in prayer, that we may face reverses with renewed courage and strength, and shoulder them willingly for the honor of God, the salvation of our neighbor, and our own sanctification. But while we experience the assistance of the angels in our sufferings we should be consoling angels of mercy for all who in any way come under our influence, and instruments of the love of Jesus; thus we shall tender the sweetest consolation to the Sacred, Agonizing Heart of Jesus.

Dare I presume that my zeal, my love and fidelity in His service were a source of comfort to my dear Saviour during His agony in the Garden?

Affections: O my most amiable Jesus! Thou strength and glory of all the angels condescendest to be consoled and refreshed by Thy creature. O marvelous mystery, which reveals to me the depth of Thy humility! Thy infinite mercy will not refuse grace and encouragement to me in afflictions in answer to my trustful prayer. Not only wilt Thou send me an angel, but Thou Thyself, most lovable Savior, wilt be my strength and my consolation. Thy bloody sweat is the wonderful balm that infuses invincible courage into my heart. Oh, let me in spirit remain near Thee to dry Thy bloody sweat. O Jesus! grant that by my love and my fervor I may console Thee and thus prove my gratitude to Thee for Thy infinite love.

Resolution: I will seek to console my sorrowing Jesus in a particular manner to-day, by fervor in prayer and patient forbearance with others.

Spiritual Bouquet: “And there appeared to Him an angel strengthening Him.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .

MEDITATION FOR QUADRAGESIMA SUNDAY

FIRST WEEK OF LENT

MEDITATION FOR QUADRAGESIMA SUNDAY

JESUS RETIRES INTO THE DESERT AND IS TEMPTED

“Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry” (Matt. 4, 1-2).

First Prelude: Behold our Divine Saviour in the desert, setting us a striking example of the most rigorous penance, by prayer and fasting.

Second Prelude: O Divine Saviour, teach me, by Thy holy example, how to prepare myself for missions of love and for the combat of temptations.

First Point

JESUS, LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO THE DESERT

Returning from the Jordan after His baptism, Jesus was led by the Holy Ghost into the desert. As Moses had fasted forty days before the Law of the Old Covenant was revealed to him, so Jesus would not announce the New Law of Grace before having fasted in the desert forty days and forty nights. He followed the impulse of the Holy Ghost of Whom it is written: “I will lead her into the wilderness and I will speak to her heart” (Osee 2, 14). We, too, were so fortunate as to hear the voice of the Holy Ghost which drew us into the seclusion of the cloister, where He continues to instruct us in the measure in which we devote ourselves to retirement and interior recollection. This is done, primarily, by the observance of religious silence. Silence draws God into the soul and makes her receptive for the operations of divine grace. “How gladly would I speak to souls” our Lord once said to St. Teresa, “but many do not hear My voice, because of the noise made by creatures.” Does not this complaint of our Saviour apply to us? What progress should we have made in the interior life if we had always lent a vigilant ear to the Holy Spirit, Who rescued us from the dangers of the world and led us along the beautiful paths of perfection! “Hearken,” He says to the Spouse, teaching her how to win the love of her heavenly Bridegroom, “hearken, O daughter, and see and incline thy ear” (Ps. 44-11).

It is impossible, however, to hear, to “hearken,” without being silent. Let us often look at our Divine Exemplar in the desert. Let us honor His holy silence by caution in the use of our tongue and by recollection of spirit. Let us seek our happiness and peace in the interior of our heart, where He dwells Whose presence amply compensates for the useless intercourse with creatures.

Second Point

JESUS, TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL

Our Lord and Saviour permitted Satan to tempt Him, for the consolation and instruction of His elect. He willed to teach us how to meet temptation. If He, the Holiest of the Holy, permitted the prince of darkness to approach Him in visible form and tempt Him to sensuality, to presumption, even to idolatry, then temptation in itself can be nothing sinful. Is it not expressly said that Jesus, impelled by the Holy Ghost, went into the desert, there to be tempted by Satan? In this world we must be tried by temptation and give God proofs of our fidelity; therefore, we should prepare to meet temptations, all the more, the higher we have set our goal. Jesus willed to be tempted after His baptism and after having fasted forty days and forty nights, in order to teach us that we are never secure against the onslaughts of the Evil One. While we are enjoying special interior consolations in the seclusion of the cloister, Satan often directs the most violent attacks against us, for he is envious of the grace of God dwelling in our hearts and desires nothing more ardently than to triumph over souls consecrated to God. Therefore does Holy Writ say: “Son, when thou comest to the service of God stand in justice and fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation” (Eccl. 2, 1).

From the manner in which our Lord was tempted, we know that the enemy takes advantage of our situation and seeks to utilize our respective needs. Seeing the Saviour exhausted with hunger and fatigue, he said to Him: “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4, 3). Likewise the tempter knows how to avail himself of the variable moods and dispositions of soul, in order to attain his object. Does he notice in souls striving after higher perfection that temptations to sensuality are easily resisted and conquered, then he flatters their pride, their egotism, for he understands quite well that thus he will more readily accomplish his purpose. Let us not fear the tempter, for Jesus, by His victory, has earned superabundant grace for us to ward off victoriously every attack of the Evil One. All his assaults will be but vain attempts, will even afford us opportunities of advancing from virtue to virtue and daily growing stronger in the grace of God.

Affections: I adore Thee, my Jesus, Thou Source of all strength and holiness. I thank Thee that Thou dost teach me by Thy holy example to prepare myself by prayer and mortification for the combat of temptations. Give me the grace to keep my soul through silence, that in accordance with the words of the prophet, I may find my strength and courage in silence. May this time of penance be for us all a time of grace and salvation. May we curb our evil inclinations by abstinence and renunciation, direct our mind towards God and zealously strive to acquire virtue. Be Thou, Divine Saviour, our strength and support, that through Thee we may achieve the victory over all our enemies.

Resolutions: I will practice those mortifications, in particular, which are most conducive to my advancement in perfection.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Behold, now is the time of grace; now are the days of salvation.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .

Meditation for Saturday

Meditation for Saturday

The Prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Olives

“And going a little further, He fell upon His face, praying, and saying: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” (Matt. 26, 39).

First Prelude: Behold Jesus prostrate in prayer to His Eternal Father.

Second Prelude: Teach me, O my Divine Saviour, to imitate Thy reverence and Thy interior sentiments in prayer.

First Point

The Words of Jesus: “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me.”

Jesus, in His intense sadness, falls prostrate on the ground and prays most ardently to His Eternal Father. He desires to be the Victim of propitiation for the sins of men, who ought to cast themselves in profound humility and annihilation before the Divine Majesty. “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me,” is the prayer which Jesus in His agony thrice offers to His heavenly Father. Jesus here teaches us how to act in time of suffering. When consolations and human aid fail us, let us have immediate recourse to God in prayer. Nor let us cease, for prayer is the surest means of obtaining relief and consolation. Do not the lives of the Saints give testimony of this? And have not we, ourselves, experienced the wonderful effects of persevering prayer? Let us, therefore, not unburden our hearts to men, and in useless conversations seek human aid and consolation, but let us turn to God and confide in Him. Furthermore, the prayer of our Lord, “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt,” gives evidence of Christ’s profound humility and reverence, and of His perfect conformity to the Divine Will. That our prayer may be acceptable to God, few words expressive of our love, our faith, our confidence, our abandonment, and compunction, and these often repeated, will suffice. The prayer of Jesus also teaches us that we may ask that the chalice of suffering be removed from us, for such a prayer far from displeasing God, honors Him. By it we humbly acknowledge our weakness, and place our trust in His infinite mercy. Do I have immediate recourse to God when sufferings come my way? Do I pray with exterior reverence, with interior recollection, humility, and perseverance?

Second Point

The Words of Our Lord: “Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

After our Divine Saviour had thrice entreated the heavenly Father to remove from Him the chalice of suffering so painful to human nature, he adds: “Nevertheless not as I will but as Thou wilt.” What loving and complete abandonment to the heavenly Father! Jesus, being God, knows perfectly the extent and painfulness of His passion in its every detail; but despite the repugnance which His human nature experiences He submits to the Divine Will, and in perfect and loving self-surrender prays: “Father not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Thus the Saviour teaches us to pray, for such a prayer ascends as an acceptable oblation to the throne of God. Nor shall it be unanswered, for although we do not always obtain that for which we petition, yet God in His infinite goodness will grant us what He knows to be for our advantage. God wills that in this life we be subject to misfortunes, temptations, cares, sickness, and anxieties, in order that, as His elect, we may participate in the sufferings and also in the glory of the Saviour. Why is it that man shrinks from suffering? Ah! it is because he fails to recognize in it the merciful designs of a loving and Divine Providence. Let us strive to recognize in our daily sufferings the loving designs of the good God, and take to heart the counsel of St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi: “When sufferings overtake you, beware, lest you separate them from their origin and source—the Divine Will—and they become an unbearable burden.”

Consider, O my soul, whether and to what extent you have been resigned to the Will of God in sufferings and tribulations, and you will know how far you have advanced in perfection.

Affections: O my Jesus, what dost Thou ask of me in return for the great and painful sacrifices Thou hast made to the Eternal Father for my salvation? Ah, Lord, Thou dost desire that I love Thee at all times with a generous and constant love. But do Thou grant me this love in virtue of that ardent prayer which Thou didst offer to Thy heavenly Father for me. I have but one desire, dear Lord, and that is to seek in this life only the accomplishment of Thy Divine Will, for this is the perfection of love. Strengthen me, O my dear Saviour, that I may do Thy holy Will not only in things easy and agreeable, but also in those painful and disagreeable.

Resolution: I will pray in union with my Divine Saviour, in order to obtain strength, lovingly to accomplish His holy Will in all difficulties.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Father not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

Prayer: Our Father . . .

February 20

Meditation for Friday

Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane

“Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples: ‘Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray.’ And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to grow sorrowful and to be sad. Then He saith to them: ‘My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here, and watch with Me.’” (Matt. 26, 36-38).

First Prelude: Behold our Divine Saviour in the Garden of Gethsemane weighed down by sorrow and grief.

Second Prelude: O my Jesus, give me true compunction for my sins, that I may share Thy sorrow and seek consolation with Thee alone.

First Point

The Profound Sorrow and Anguish of Jesus

A little while ago Jesus had lovingly consoled His Apostles in the Supper Room, had spoken of His passion as the object of His intense desires. Suddenly He yielded to sorrow, fear, and anguish of soul. “My soul is sorrowful unto death,” He said to His disciples. How excessive must this sorrow have been if the Eternal Truth spoke thus! We see further that Jesus suffered voluntarily, and that sorrow could assail Him no sooner than He Himself had decreed. What a miracle of love! To behold a God, the essence of eternal happiness, sorrowful for love of mankind!

This sorrow was caused by the sight of the sins for which He willed to atone. Like a tremendous burden, all the crimes, all the sins committed since the Fall weighed down our Blessed Saviour and plunged His soul into inexpressible grief. This sorrow was further intensified by the thought of all the sins of the future. Looking into the future Jesus saw a new torrent of sins breaking in upon Him and flowing on until the end of time. What must have been the sentiments of His sinless, holiest Soul at sight of such abominations! This sorrow alone would have sufficed to cause His death. At the same time it augmented all His corporal sufferings, for it clung to Him until He commended His Soul into the hands of His heavenly Father. Even now the Saviour foresaw the vast ocean of sufferings that awaited Him. He beheld the treason of Judas, the flight of the Apostles, the denial by Peter, felt the inexpressible anguish and pain of the scourging, the excruciating pain of the crowning with thorns, and saw even the cross erected on Calvary, on which He was to die amid inexpressible anguish. The most bitter suffering of His love-inflamed Heart, however, was the thought that, notwithstanding His sufferings, so many souls would be eternally lost.

Behold your Saviour, O my soul! Contemplate this sorrowful picture and be mindful that your sins, too, were the cause of His agony. Learn here to repent of them, and to accept the sorrow that God suffers to come upon you in punishment of your sins. If the Son of God thus grieved over my sins, what must not I do, who have committed them?

Second Point

By His Agony in the Garden, Jesus Willed to Sanctify Our Sorrow

By divine dispensation we must suffer manifold reverses and tribulations in this life. Sufferings are repugnant to our rebellious, corrupt nature, inasmuch as they produce pain, unrest, and disgust; but by His agony in the Garden, Jesus merited for us the grace to sanctify such dispositions of soul. He wills that in dark hours we look upon Him as our model and unite ourselves with Him, that our sorrow, too, may redound to the honor of God and the salvation of souls! Countless souls have found, in the agonizing Heart of Jesus, the source of all consolation. Contemplating the agonizing Heart of Jesus in Gethsemane, penitents of every rank have, despite the most poignant grief for their sins, experienced profound peace of soul.

Let us then renew our courage, and in all our sufferings seek comfort and relief in the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the more we despise every other form of consolation, the more shall we find it in this Sacred Heart. Let us banish far from us every sorrow and grief that might endanger the welfare of our soul, such as springs from imperfect motives, from inordinate affections, or from lack of confidence in Divine Providence. Oh, how unlike the sorrow of Jesus is such grief!

Affections: O my Saviour, I thank Thee for the sorrow which Thou didst will to suffer for my sins. Offer it to the heavenly Father in satisfaction for my many transgressions. Let me share Thy anguish by sincere compunction and contrition for all the sins whereby I have grieved Thy infinitely loving Heart. O Heart, plunged in an ocean of bitterness, Thy sorrow is the surest pledge of Thy infinite love. For the future I will no longer seek consolation with creatures. I desire Thy grace and Thy love. Possessing them, I shall desire nothing further.

Resolution: In every affliction I will have recourse to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I will unite my contrition with the sorrow of Jesus in the Garden.

Spiritual Bouquet: “My soul is sorrowful even unto death.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .

February 19

MEDITATION FOR THURSDAY

PREPARATORY MEDITATION ON THE PASSION

“And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!” (Luke 12, 50).

First Prelude: Behold Jesus, leaving the hall of the Last Supper and going with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, to begin His bitter passion.

Second Prelude: O my Divine Saviour, by the infinite love wherewith Thou didst die for me, I beseech Thee to imbue my heart with the sentiments requisite to derive great profit from the contemplation of Thy sacred passion.

First Point

LOVE, THE MOTIVE OF OUR LORD’S SUFFERINGS

Our Divine Saviour spoke quite frequently of His pending passion. How touching are His words: “And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!” He tells us that He must suffer, urged by the power of love which He cannot resist. Though the justice of His Father did not demand such immense sufferings, the Son desired to take upon Himself an excess of pain to merit superabundant graces for us. Accordingly, He suffered in all His senses: in His eyes, when they were forced to see so much that deeply grieved His tender Heart, namely, the depression and desertion of His disciples, and the angry, despicable mien of His enemies; in His ears, when forced to hear the blasphemies, the false testimony and the derision of his enemies. His taste was cruelly tortured by the excessive thirst and the bitter draught of vinegar and gall. He suffered inexpressible pain in His whole Body in the scourging, in the crowning with thorns, and in the crucifixion. His holy Soul, however, endured still greater agony: the dereliction and desolation in Gethsemane and on the cross, the dread of the magnitude of His sufferings, the sorrow on account of the infinite offense against the Divine Majesty, and the loss of so many souls.

Let us contemplate the infinite love of our Saviour, Who endured all these sufferings voluntarily, for the whole human race, for His friends and His enemies. Thus can everyone say with the Apostle: “He hath loved me and delivered Himself up for me” (Gal. 2, 20). Should we not gladly return His love, by joyfully accepting in a spirit of love all the hardships, all the sacrifices ordinarily inseparable from our holy vocation, to prove our gratitude to our Divine Saviour for His infinite mercies?

Second Point

THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST IS VERY PROFITABLE FOR US

The saints call the passion of Christ a wonderful book, opened to the whole world that all may read therein the great mysteries of the justice and love of God. The Lord Himself once revealed this to St. Angela of Foligno: “Whoever wishes to find My grace, should never lose sight of the cross, no matter what may be his frame of mind—be he in joy or in sorrow. Those who earnestly occupy themselves with the contemplation of My passion and death, are in truth My children.” At sight of the cross the sinner will be moved to repentance, the lukewarm will be anew inflamed with zeal in the combat of passions and will strive earnestly to acquire virtue; the God-loving soul will attain more intimate union with her Lord and Saviour. From contemplation of the Crucified the saints derived courage to follow Jesus and to walk unflinchingly on the way of the cross; they rejoiced to be nailed to the cross with Christ by means of corporal and spiritual sufferings, till, finally, their dying gaze riveted on the Crucified, they could say with Him: “It is consummated.” O my soul, for thee, also, is the book open; thou, too, canst partake of the blessing revealed to St. Angela at another time: “Be ye blessed by My Father, ye, that have compassion with My sufferings, that share My afflictions, and walk My ways; for thereby ye have merited that your garments be washed in My Precious Blood. Be blessed all ye that compassionate Me in My inexpressible anguish and the death that I have suffered to release you from eternal pangs, to make atonement and pay the ransom for you, that you may be found worthy to share My poverty, My humiliations, My sufferings and distress. Be blessed all ye that faithfully commemorate My passion, this greatest of wounds of all times, the salvation and life of the fallen human race, the sole refuge of sinners, because ye also have part in My resurrection, in My everlasting reign and My honor, which I purchased at the price of My Precious Blood and bitter passion, and for all eternity ye shall be my heirs.”

Imbued with these holy sentiments, let us enter with heart and soul upon the contemplation of the passion of Christ. Let us endeavor lovingly to sympathize and to suffer with Him. Let us beg the holy angels, who were present during the passion of our Divine Saviour, and the Blessed Virgin, our dear Mother, to accompany us in spirit on the way to Gethsemane and thence to Golgotha with our Divine Lord. Let us beg them to teach us how to console Jesus, how to impress His bitter passion indelibly on our hearts, to cherish the memory thereof and to derive great profit for the salvation of our soul.

Affections: O my Jesus, Thou didst suffer so much for me, and how little is that which I suffer for Thee! How must I blush for shame when I compare my sufferings with Thine! How could I ponder the excruciating torments which Thou, O Jesus, didst endure for love of me, immolating Thy life and shedding the last drop of Thy Precious Blood, and not be ready to suffer for Thee, to immolate my heart to Thy service! Should I not even offer my life, if Thou shouldst ask it of me? Give me then, my beloved Saviour, the grace to seek all my happiness in sharing Thy passion, to impress it deeply on my mind and heart by profound meditation, that I may say with the Apostle: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6, 14).

Resolution: I will endeavor to contemplate the passion of my Saviour with zeal and tender compassion, and daily ask God for the requisite grace.

Spiritual Bouquet: “My Saviour hath loved me and delivered Himself up for me.”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

February 18 - Ash Wednesday

MEDITATION FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH A REMINDER OF PENANCE

“Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return” (Mos. 3, 19).

First Prelude: Hear Holy Mother Church, speaking through the mouth of the priest while he distributes blessed ashes: “Remember, O man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return.”

Second Prelude: Replenish our hearts, O Lord, with sentiments of true compunction and penance, which Holy Mother Church so ardently desires to infuse into her children at the beginning of this holy season.

First Point

THE ASHES, A REMINDER OF DEATH

With our first parents in paradise we were doomed to die, through the words: “Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.” Holy Church wishes to remind us of this sentence by strewing blessed ashes on our heads. Let us often think of death, especially during the holy season of Lent, for it is a wholesome thought which will preserve us from sin, as the Holy Ghost Himself assures us, “In all thy works remember thy last end and thou shalt never sin” (Eccl. 7, 40). If mankind, instead of grievously offending God, would reflect seriously on death, they would certainly recoil from sin; but they simply banish far from their minds all such thoughts and seek to lull themselves into a false slumber in the turmoil of worldly pleasures.

We, on the contrary, have the great grace to be reminded of death so often; our Holy Rule bids us call it to mind every hour. We often face death, see it in various forms, severing body and soul, now calmly, now in a fierce struggle, but always accosting us with the earnest admonition: “It is appointed unto men to die” (Hebr. 9, 27). How salutary is this admonition, how well calculated to preserve us from tepidity, to help us atone for past sins by penance, and to incite us to persevere in the practice of good works!

Holy Church, therefore, exhorts us to penance today, at the beginning of the Lenten season. Mindful that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, we should appear before God humbly penitent, and willing to shoulder whatever is bitter or repugnant in the discharge of our duties.

Second Point

THE THOUGHT OF DEATH HELPS US CRUSH OUR EVIL TENDENCIES

“I die daily” (Cor. 15, 31), St. Paul writes to the Corinthians. Let us strive to imitate Him, and accordingly prepare ourselves better for the last moment of our life. How foolish are not most people in this regard! They exert themselves to master the various arts and sciences but at the same time they neglect the one art—to die well. Consequently, death seems to them bitter and hard, and so many die an unhappy death. Religious, on the contrary, have already partly overcome that which renders death so difficult; they have left their relatives for the love of God; have severed all ties of flesh and blood; have sacrificed temporal goods and renounced the joys of life. Jesus is their love, their happiness, their wealth, Whom they confidently hope to possess perfectly throughout eternity. To the good religious, therefore, apply the words: “Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord” (Rev. 14, 13). Would we share this happiness and partake of this bliss, then we must strive earnestly to fix our attention on the things of eternity, and with all diligence labor to acquire the goods which death cannot rob. This evidently imposes many a sacrifice upon our corrupt nature, which we must constantly curb, using violence as the Apostle says: “I die daily.” This incessant struggle, this constant self-denial, seems so difficult to him that he terms it “dying.” But if we thus daily die the death of the just, we shall at the same time, like them, live happily in Jesus. We shall finally be able to say with St. Paul: “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 12, 20). May we practice the art of dying to self, especially during the holy season of Lent. Everyone is equal to the task, and none should seek to exempt themselves, for by no other form of penance can we give greater joy to our Blessed Lord.

Affections: O my God, I have sinned and deserve Thy just punishment; therefore, I will enter into the spirit of Holy Church and begin the penitential season with sentiments of profound humility, sincere compunction, and holy fervor, that it may truly be for me a time of grace and mercy. Grant that the constant remembrance of death may imbue me with a wholesome fear, and preserve me from sin. Let me daily realize my faults and my utter unworthiness that I may become truly humble, contrite of heart, and thus please God in all my actions. Give us all the grace, O my Saviour, to pass this holy season in silence and holy recollection, and in the earnest effort to advance in perfection.

Resolution: I will be zealous in the practice of the mortifications that are most conducive to my advancement in perfection.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Remember, O man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.”

Prayer: Take, O Lord . . .

 

February 13

Meditations will be on Pause until Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026. 

 

February 12

JESUS IN THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT THE VICTIM OF EXPIATION FOR OUR SINS

“Behold the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world” (John i, 29).

First Prelude: Behold the priest elevating the Sacred Host with profound reverence, at the same time pronouncing the words: “Behold the Lamb of God.”

Second Prelude: O my Saviour, Who in infinite love didst take my sins and those of the whole world upon Thyself, grant me grace always to assist at the renewal of the Holy Sacrifice with sentiments of gratitude and thus render myself worthy to participate in its precious fruits.

First Point

JESUS TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD BY HIS PRAYER

What consolation must it afford us to hear from the lips of the priest: “Behold the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world!” The Apostle assures us (Hebr. 5, 7) that Jesus, our true High-priest, during His life on earth, with prayers and tears supplicated the heavenly Father for us. This supplication He continues to the end of time in the adorable Sacrament of the Altar. Knowing that it is impossible for God to resist the petitions of His servants, that He heard Moses whenever he interceded for the ungrateful people, that we find in the lives of the Saints countless proofs that testify to this truth, what dare we not expect of a prayer which Jesus incessantly by day and by night offers to the heavenly Father in our behalf! We may safely assume that for the sake of such a prayer God has countless times spared a sinful world and withdrawn His chastening hand to give full sway to His mercy. In His fervent prayer, world-wide in its embrace, He is our Mediator and Conciliator. If we unite our supplications with His, the coldness of our hearts will be transformed by contact with the fire of His love, and we shall be able to discharge worthily our duty of expiation, of reparation and of atonement. Oh, that we may be among the pious souls that weary not of pouring out before the Blessed Sacrament their most ardent zeal and love! Let it be our earnest endeavor to console Him by our prayers and to lead back to Him those that have gone astray that the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, may have mercy on them.

Second Point

CHRIST’S PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE

From the first moment of His Incarnation Jesus considered Himself the Victim of immolation for the sins of the world, and He persevered in these sentiments until His death. At His entrance into the world He spoke to His heavenly Father: “Sacrifice and oblation Thou didst not desire—Burnt offering and sin offering Thou didst not require. Then said I, ‘Behold, I come to do Thy Will’ ” (Ps. 39, 7-8). What sacrifices comprised in this one act! To the present moment, Christ is our High-priest, our Mediator between Heaven’s vengeance and the guilty human race, renewing incessantly in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the infinite satisfaction He once made on the cross. Thus He merits pardon for sinners and promotes the cause of His people with the heavenly Father with infinitely more success than did Moses and Aaron in the desert.

If we are deeply grieved at sight of the magnitude of sin, let us not forget that by His sacrifice on the cross Christ made satisfaction far exceeding the guilt of mankind. In union with these superabundant merits, which Christ continually immolates to His heavenly Father on countless altars, we will offer Him His own Precious Blood in expiation of our sins and those of the whole world. Not even the prayer of all the angels and saints combined is as worthy a reparation in the sight of God, is as capable of drawing so many graces down upon ourselves as the prayer of Jesus when He immolates Himself on our altar, and His sacred Wounds, as it were, cry to heaven in our behalf. The holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a treasure justly appraised only in heaven. Let us, therefore, during this holy season specially dedicated to the remembrance of Christ’s passion, renew our fervor and devotion in assisting at holy Mass. The Mass comprises the infinite merits of the bloody Sacrifice of Calvary. But our Divine Saviour expects of us fidelity in the many little sacrifices that He has allotted to us in the course of the day. He wills that, in union with the sacrifice of Christ’s Sacred Body and Blood, and His infinite merits, we offer them in advance to the heavenly Father. If our love of Jesus were genuine and our love of neighbor, likewise, how much could and would we do, especially during these days, for poor sinners.

Affections: O my Saviour and my God, in an excess of the tenderest and most marvelous love Thou art uninterruptedly present in the Sacred Mystery of the Altar as Victim and as such, dost immolate Thyself to the heavenly Father daily on countless altars. We thank Thee for the sacrifice of the Incarnation, for Thy extreme poverty and abasement, for the immolation of Thy Blood and Life, of Thy Humanity and Divinity, for which Thy love-inflamed Heart is the sacrificial Altar. O Jesus, let not such love be in vain bestowed on me. Imbue us all with holy zeal that we may assist at the sublime Sacrifice of the Mass with the proper dispositions, and incessantly offer ourselves through Thee to the honor and glory of the heavenly Father. Thus united with Thee, our Divine Model, we will, inasmuch as we are able, by our prayers, labors and sufferings repair the insults, the abuses and the ignominy heaped upon Thee.

Resolution: I will frequently during the day offer the prayers and self-immolation of the Heart of Jesus to the heavenly Father, in satisfaction for the sins of men.

Spiritual Bouquet: “Behold the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world.”

Prayer: Soul of Christ . . .